For All The Time I Have Left
by TopHat
Summary: Inspired by Resolute. Scarlett chose Duke, now they have to come to terms with their new relationship.


Disclaimer: I do not own GI Joe. I saw Resolute a few weeks ago and was inspired. I hope you enjoy!

For All The Time I Have Left

Scarlett glanced at her watch as she wound her way through the hallways of the base they were temporarily sharing. She'd heard Doc was finally allowing visitors in to see Duke. She desperately wanted to see him, to talk to him, to get things straight. She hadn't had a lot of time to begin with and after being waylaid by what felt like half the base she had even less time.

"Hey, Scarlett, did you see the latest security update? Man, have we ever got our work cut out for us. Good thing Cobra's out of the picture!"

She took a deep breath before responding, "I'm kinda in a hurry, Gung Ho, is there something specific I can help you with?"

"Oh, you on your way to see Duke? I'll come with you!"

"Hey, Scarlett, Gung Ho, how's it going? You on your way to see Duke? How's he doing?"

Once again she took a deep breath and let it out slowly, she swore if one more person walked up to her or decided to tag along while she went to visit Duke, she'd cauterize them. She hadn't had more than two minutes alone with the man since Siberia.

"His surgery was fine, if he follows Doc's orders he should be released sometime today or tomorrow."

"So he wasn't hit that bad, huh, well that's good." Gung Ho replied.

'Idiot,' she thought. While the bullet hadn't actually pierced anything vital it had come close. So, no it really wasn't all that 'good'.

Her unwelcome companions kept up a steady banter until they walked through Duke's door only to find him already surrounded by well wishers. He found and held her gaze a fraction longer than necessary. Friends were great but right now she'd happily wish them all to hell.

She put on a happy, friendly face and smiled at Duke, "We just wanted to come by and see how you were doing."

"I'm fine. I'll be better than fine if Doc'll let me out of here." He grumbled

Everyone laughed; Duke really was a bear when he was sick. "How's the rebuild coming along?"

She stepped forward and claimed a small space by his bed, "Here's a copy of the reports. We've got round the clock crews working on both a new land base as well as a new battleship. Progress is being made but it looks like we'll be stuck here for a while longer."

Duke nodded, he'd figured as much. When he got out of here he'd get on the horn to D.C. and light a few fires. They'd saved the world-again. The least the president could do would be to provide them with their own base, sooner rather than later.

Friends came and went through the afternoon. Scarlett stayed as long as she could and came back as often as she could. He found himself watching the door instead of listening to the conversations going on around him. Luckily everyone assumed he wasn't feeling well and finally left him alone. Flint had ushered everyone out when he had been called for a meeting. He assumed that was why she hadn't come back.

Lady Jaye paused on in the doorway of Duke's room, watching him scowl at the television and curse the clock. "You know, you could actually try sleeping. They say it's not only supposed to pass the time but help you recover."

Duke jerked at the sound of a female voice. For a split second his eyes lit up with hope. "Damn." He cursed under his breath

Lady Jaye stepped into the room and shut the door behind her. "I can tell you're disappointed but, I do have a message from her."

Duke arched a brow, "From who?" he asked coolly

"Ha!" she laughed, "Maybe Gung Ho and a few of the support staff haven't caught on yet but trust me, honey, the rest of the team has. Ripcord helped things along by gleefully repeating everything that went on between the two of you while you were alone in that missile silo. "

"We were operating under radio silence."

"And Ripcord is smart enough take a short conversation and read between the lines. Besides that, Snake Eyes left and Scarlett, for once, didn't go with him."

"That doesn't necessarily mean…"

Jaye rolled her eyes, "You got shot in the side, not the head and considering I highly doubt you've taken anything for the pain you don't have an excuse to act dumb. So don't, not with me."

"So what, you came here to warn me off? Is this the 'mess with my friend and I'll mess with you' talk?"

She glared at him through narrowed eyes, "You can be such an ass sometimes. I came because she asked me to come. Because she's stuck in a meeting and doesn't want you to think she chose not to be here. You told her to choose Duke; she chose you. She isn't some damn teeny bopper who changes her mind like she changes clothes."

Duke grunted his disagreement.

"Hey! You're the one who got her to make up her damn mind-which had been the problem all along. She didn't ask for Snake Eyes and she didn't ask for you! She's the least likely person I've ever met to get caught up in some soap operatic love triangle. If it could even be called that! If you had actually asked her to stay before now she probably would have!"

"You done, now?"

They glared at each other for a long moment. "Yeah, I'm done. Nothing else is going to get through that thick skull of yours anyways. She says she'll be back by to see you later-much later." She turned to stalk off but stopped when he whispered her name.

"Jaye?" he called softly

The tone of his voice struck a chord with her, soundly oddly like Flint when he was about to let his guard down. "Yeah?" she asked without turning around

"I wasn't sure if she would. But I figured that this time, there was a better than even chance one of us wouldn't make it through this mess." He paused for a moment, "I had to find out."

She let out the breath she hadn't known she was holding. "So you laid all your cards on the table, huh?"

"Something like that."

"Duke, good luck."

He nodded at her back, "Thanks." He turned the TV off and stared at the blank screen, lost in thought. She'd stayed. Twice she'd stayed. 'For all the time I have left…' she'd said. They'd see if she meant it.

He was still wondering an hour later when Doc walked in. "You gonna let me out of here sometime this century, Doc?"

Doc chuckled, "Same old ornery self, you must be on the mend. That tongue of yours is getting mighty sharp. How are you feeling? Pain?"

Duke cursed, "You stitched my insides back together, how the hell do you think I feel?"

"Well enough to fend for yourself?"

"If I say yes will it get me out of here?"

"You're not doing much resting in here. Your door hasn't stayed shut since you woke up this morning. I'll make a deal, you take your meds, including the pain killer, and actually get some rest and I'll release you to your quarters. If I see or hear about you doing anything more strenuous than taking a piss I'll put you back in here with an IV that will ensure you do nothing for a week."

"Deal."

"Fine, I'll get one of the orderlies to take you to your quarters."

"In a wheelchair? Come on, Doc?"

"In a wheelchair or you stay here. What's it gonna be?"

"Fine."

When she was certain he'd be in his quarters alone she changed into workout clothes and went for a jog. Her sneakers made little noise as she let herself into his quarters. They really ought to upgrade their locks. They weren't even close to Joe spec and even those didn't slow her down much.

She took a moment to calm her thoughts before she sat in the chair by his bed. She wasn't sure if he'd understood her message but she was glad he was asleep. It looked like Doc had forced a pain killer down his throat. Good. He would have suffered otherwise, unwilling to forfeit control, not willing to succumb to anything that would dull his mind. She sat quietly until he woke up and realized she was there.

At first he figured he was dreaming. She was sitting so still, watching him. He brushed her fingers with his own and was startled to feel them fold over his and gently squeeze. "Did you get my message?"

"I guess it's later."

A half-smile ghosted her lips, "Much later. It's been two days and either Doc would let anyone in to see you or you've been surrounded by well wishers nonstop. It was beginning to grate on my temper."

"You could have kicked them all out."

She snorted, "Yeah, right, 'run along now boys me and Duke need to have a little private talk'"."

"I'm not sure I would have put in quite that way."

"And how would you have put it?"

"You could have told them you needed to brief me."

"Flint was taking care of that. There wasn't much business I could come up with." She swallowed, nervous, "Besides, I'm here now."

"Yeah. You are." He looked away, "You should have followed orders and gotten the hell out of there. If Ripcord hadn't…"

"You sure as hell had better follow that comment with 'but I'm glad you didn't'! You're the one who forced my hand Hauser, you told me to choose once and for all, don't you dare change your mind now. You've got me whether you want me or not!"

She jerked the chair back and stalked to the window, turning her back to him so she could get herself under control. Under no circumstances would she allow herself to tear up or lose control in anyway. It couldn't happen.

"Why did you stay?"

She knew he wasn't just referring to Siberia. "Because I couldn't choose him."

He fisted the sheet in his hand so hard the tendons on his arm stood out, "So what the hell am I, some sort of consolation prize? No thanks!" he spat out

She turned around, confused, "What the hell are you talking about? Oh, hell!" She threw her arms up in the air, "You're not the only one who's better at actions than words! I stayed because I couldn't choose him; I couldn't go with Snake Eyes because I couldn't walk away from you knowing that was it. The thought of it, the idea of walking away from you tore something inside me and I knew- I finally knew what my heart had been trying to say for so long now. I wanted you. So now you've got me and you'd better still want me."

"For as long as you have left…." He whispered

"Yes, damn it! For as long as I have left. And this is not some sort of joke!"

He was quiet and still for a moment before he turned to face her, "Yes I do and No, it's not."

"Huh?"

"Come here." She looked at him warily, "Come here, damn it!" He stood up and yanked her close, close enough they could look each other in the eye as he lowered his head and slowly, surely, kissed her.

He wasn't sure just how far that first kiss would have gone but he didn't get a chance to find out. Pain shot through his side and registered in his brain. He let go of the kiss with a groan as he lost his balance. She grabbed hold and they topped over onto the bed.

She scrambled off him as fast as she could, "Shit, shit, shit, shit! Did you hurt yourself?" She flipped the light switch on and he cursed.

"Damn it, woman are you trying to kill me?"

"No you idiot, I'm trying to see if you opened your wound!"

"I didn't."

"Well let me check!"

"Shana, will you turn off the damn light! I'm fine or as fine as I can be two days after Doc was messing around in my insides."

"That bullet did a lot more damage than you're letting on. I was there, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember. You told me you loved me."

Her mouth dropped open in shock, "Ripcord, you jerk! Not you, I told you that then! He saved us from certain death, I was grateful! Temporarily."

He moved his arm away from his eyes and she could see his grin.

"You think that's funny!"She shrieked in indignation

"Yeah, actually, the look on your face was priceless." He stopped laughing and groaned.

She sighed and flipped the light off once again. "Serves you right, asshole."

"Is this how it's going to be in our relationship? You saying you love me and then calling me names every five minutes? Can't decide if you love me or hate me?"

She was quiet for a longer than he had intended. Maybe he'd gone too far with the bantering but he'd desperately needed to lighten the mood. He'd take her just about any way he could get her but he'd prefer not to spend his precious time with her angry or sad.

"I made up my mind Conrad, I chose you."

"For as long as we've got?"

She didn't miss the 'we' and smiled, "For as long as we've got."

"Let's start with something requiring less energy than that kiss."

"Okay…"

He patted the bed next to him, "Lie down."

"No way, you're hurt! I might…"

"Shana you're not going to hurt me anymore than I already am. Lie down; I just want to hold you for a little while."

She bent down to untie her shoes and then slide in next to him. She felt his arms wrap around her and eventually felt his breathing deepen as he once again fell asleep, this time peacefully.

"One day at a time, Conrad, we'll work this thing out. One day at a time."


End file.
